"The Oracle is summoned!"
Member Spotlight on Brittney Monster! Featuring poetry and pages generated during Image Word Mystery gatherings.
“Opening the sketchbook is a radical act of rest, of acceptance, of showing up for the younger Self. Upon opening the sketchbook and applying marks, the Oracle is summoned!” -Brittney Monster
The most wonderful, tender-hearted Monster I know is celebrating her birthday this week!! 🥳🎁
Brittney, your deep presence is a gift. After four years of walking with you in ritual creative practice & play, so many of your words and images have echoed their way into my own sketchbooks, poems, audio, films and decorate my home— I consider you a glittering thread stitched in to the tapestry of my creative life. 🫶 Thank you from the bottom of my heart for weaving with me. And thank you for sharing this sweet glimpse into your creative practice today. Happy Birthday!!! xoxo
From the fall 2022 Image Word Mystery Ritual Sketchbooking course at ViTra Academy: Joy of Now Oracle card pull 11/1/22 There is PERFECT BALANCE In the JOY OF NOW There is perfect balance in the joy of now There is perfect balance A HARMONY WITHIN Seeking NOW as HEAVEN A harmony within AN EQUILIBRIUM OF PASSAGE Seeking now as Heaven An Equilibrium of passage Extending throughout time An equilibrium of passage E X T E N D I N G T H R O U G H O U T T I M E
Facing the Dragons
Facing the Dragons
With inner voices
Listening, waiting, watching
For the doorway to peace
With inner voices
We move forward
Toward the doorway to peace
Unlocking potential
A moving tide
Rainbows in the dark
Listening, waiting, watching
A moving tide
Facing the Dragons
To hear some of Brittney’s living, breathing poetry, check out this summer’s Oracle Line transmission in which her voice & words are woven… let this hypnotize you:
Q: What does your creative practice look like?
A: I create nearly every single day! This requires me to redefine the word "create" in order to stay curious, focused and aligned with my output. Some days I paint, some days I am on my iPad working on ProCreate images, others I am creating digital assets on Photoshop from my paintings, some days are for photography, working on a gouache and ink illustration, coloring with crayons in my sketchbook, writing a bit of poetry, or landscaping my garden if I need an outside job! Whichever of these I feel most inclined to do throughout my day, one of them always works. It's gotten so that I feel weird if the day is closing out and I haven't done any of these things. I think the key is allowing myself to choose what feels aligned.
Q: Do you have specific rituals connected with your work? And/or how do art and ritual intersect in your life?
A: Rituals before getting to work is an area that could use more structure and dedication. Right now, my partner and I wake up, drink cacao and scroll, I go poke around in the garden for a while for sun exposure, we eat, I hit the weights for an hour, and then it's time to work! I've tried meditating or lighting sage before getting to work, and found it to be very beneficial. Sometimes the best things for my practice get shoved out of the way during the momentum of the day.
Q: When you're out of sorts or the work isn't flowing, what do you do?
A: When I feel out of touch with the creativity, it's usually because I've manically put a project together in a short time, or I've got travel fatigue. For both these ailments, a day trip to the mountain trails or a hot spring, followed by a margarita, is the known cure. Back at it the next day, no problem!
Q: What has been your favorite part of playing creative games with me in Image Word Mystery? How does this type of thing fit with the rest of your creative practice?
A: Image Word Mystery is a force that allows my inner child to run wild! The prompts speak to my heart in ways that urge it to be true. There is a lot of freedom in the structure of these meetings. Each time we gather or I muse on a prompt from IWM Substack, it opens up so many creative passageways for me. These exercises are so perfect to reflect on when the juice is running low… I read through all these past ebbs and flows of words and emotions… and then maybe I'm inspired to scribble something, maybe a new poem blurps out… best outcome, I am moved to create a painting.
Q: Who do you think this kinda creative play is good for?
A: THIS IS FOR EVERYONE. If they are saying they "can't draw" or "can't write"… I say they need this kind of creative play even more! Everyone deserves to check in with the other side of the brain and make new connections.
Q: What's on your easel right now?
A: A gigantic celestial Bear on a 4ft X 5ft wooden panel, so large I created an easel on my wall to hold it. I'm nearing the finish line, so I'm finding myself procrastinating more and more - ha! Hoping to finish it before the year ends. It represents a pathway from New Mexico to the mountains of Southern Colorado, where we were given permission to dig for Osha root last July. I am trying to translate the feeling of great looming thunderstorms, and the smell of fresh, moist soil...
Q: Do you have a prompt you'd like to share with folks?
A: How are you contributing to the world you would like to see, every day?
Something I know and love about Brittney is that she pours her energy into the Vision Train community every day, which palpably contributes to the world I like to see! Thank you Brittney!
You can wish this Monster a very happy birthday, purchase her lovely art and fun merch or join her live:
www.brittneymonster.com / ig: brittneymonster / First Mondays with Akemi Alchemy: The Entrepreneurial Palette
★ Have you made art or poetry in response to Image Word Mystery creative prompts? Submit your work!
xo,
Oh, Lisette! This is so beautiful and heartwarming, thank you so much for the feature! What a birthday this has been! Loving you tons, thank you!